Hello all:Been lurking this forum for a while and thought it was high time I became a member so I could interact with you all.

Probably like many of you, I'm wondering if the continued anorgasmia I'm suffering with since tapering off Effexor is PSSD.

I suffered from anorgasmia during my use of Effexor for approximately 4 years. I tolerated this side effect because it was more important to control my GAD. I figured at some point I would taper off Effexor and give either buspar or nefazodone a try at managing my GAD so I could return to a normal sex life with my wife.

I tapered off Effexor over a 2 month period while introducing buspar. I've been clear of Effexor for about 3 months and take 15mg of buspar 2x a day.

Other than a couple "windows" where my libido/orgasm function seemed close to my pre-Effexor self, my anorgasmia seems the same, and sometimes worse, than when I was taking Effexor.

After consuming most of the helpful research and anecdotal evidence on this site, my present conundrum is whether I'm suffering PSSD from the Effexor withdrawal or anorgasmia caused by the buspar. I'm torn between waiting out the post-Effexor period longer to see whether the anorgasmia improves, or switching to nefazodone which I have used before with no sexual dysfunction.

I would be grateful for any input from those more knowledgeable than me on the probability that buspar (rather than PSSD) is causing my anorgasmia.

Libido is fairly good. No erection problem. The typical cycle is stimulation feels fairly normal until I get to the precum stage, then the build up shuts down. After a lot of time and tremendous effort, I can get to a weak orgasm with manual stimulation. Impossible to orgasm with a partner, though. I can never get there with intercourse and she tires before getting me there manually.

I've seen so few reports of buspar causing anorgasmia, and far more reports of buspar helping with libido, hence my hesitancy to blame buspar...yet.

I don't think we can know for sure until you are completely clear of any drugs and supplements and wait a week. I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of PSSD. Like all syndromes and conditions, symptoms exist on a severity spectrum. You can have all the symptoms or just one. Sexual functioning in any realm that doesn't return to before antidepressant functioning is technically PSSD.

I would taper off your drugs and supplements and reduce or elimate anything else that vould cause dysfunction - alcohol, tobacco, etc - and see what happens. If after 2-4 weeks of being clean and you still have this symptom, I would say you have a very mild case of PSSD.